Educators invest a lot of time and effort in developing online courses. But as time goes by, their content can lose relevance so they need to do revamping once in a while. Otherwise, it will lose its effectiveness, and learners’ engagement will drop.
One of the main reasons why courses get outdated is advancements in technology. Just think of never-seen-before progress in artificial intelligence of late. No wonder you should keep up with the realities in the technological landscape of today. If you produced content in PDF back in the day, there’s much more interactivity to add today – infographics, animations, audios, gamification elements, etc.
Changes in curriculum can also cause an urgent need to update your online courses. Your content must meet current policies, ensure timeliness, and apply the latest methodologies. The same goes for learning environments. While online learners used to sit at their laptops and desktops earlier, smartphones are go-to gadgets to access educational materials these days.
eLearning trends don’t stand still, and your content shouldn’t either. Learn how you can update online courses to keep with the times.
Survey learners to identify areas for improvement
Surveys are great sources of information on how you can improve learning materials over time. It will help you identify all the weak spots and missing pieces in your chain of courses. You can survey learners about what they’d like to improve and use their feedback to make a plan of upcoming updates.
The types of questions to use in your survey depend on the data you want to collect. Scaled questions will help you determine learners’ satisfaction levels, while multiple-choice questions will shed more light on their experiences. With open-ended questions, you can give them room for criticism and, more importantly, ideation. Sharing their improvement suggestions, they’ll basically do half the work for you.
Break down large modules into smaller sections
As microlearning improves memorability, consider breaking down your content into smaller chunks – subcategories, subtopics, etc. This approach will make it more digestible and easier for people with busy schedules to undergo training at a pace that better meets their needs.
Bite-sized information is also better displayed on screens of smartphones and tablets, which is important since the demand for mobile learning has grown dramatically. Breaking each module into smaller parts will make your online course mobile-friendly and easy to navigate on different handheld devices. A free text summarizer can also help condense lengthy content, ensuring key points are highlighted and easily digestible for learners on the go.
Gamify your eLearning experiences
Gamification of online courses improves learners’ achievements through higher engagement, increased attention span, and better motivation. They will also develop skills to collaborate with other teammates and feel more confident in solving problems of different difficulty levels.
There are many gamification elements that can help you update your eLearning materials. For example, point systems can introduce competition with other trainees or even with their own selves. If you give a quiz, you can assess how much time it takes for learners to answer questions. Each time they complete it faster, you can reward them with points or certificates to praise them for their progress.
Visualize your eLearning materials with infographics and videos
Complex data rendered in plain text is often difficult to absorb, not to mention remember. Infographics can help you illustrate it in a way that will be easier for consumption and analysis. With data visualization, you can omit unnecessary details, shifting focus to the main points straightaway.
Use charts and graphs to present numerical data, timelines to show how things evolve over time, tables to compare different concepts, etc. Due to visualized content, learners will grasp new information literally on the fly.
Visualizing complex processes on videos also contributes to better understanding, compared to reading plain text. Video content facilitates memorization and therefore enhances information retention. Just make sure your videos are responsive to mobile devices and lightweight for faster loading. Don’t make them too long and try to keep the background music soft and non-distracting.
Enhance the visual design of your online courses
While the quality of content is always the top priority for instructors, visual design is just as important. It sets the tone of a learning environment, forming a positive attitude among learners. When you’re ready to update your course, don’t neglect to focus on its aesthetics.
Keep your course layout simple and clear to eliminate any possible distractions. Use the right balance of graphics and text to avoid clutter and make sure learners don’t feel overwhelmed. Buttons and other call-to-action elements should draw their attention and, if placed strategically, will improve navigation throughout your courses. Be consistent with the font type, size, and color scheme.
Keep your course clean from unnecessary content and other elements that clutter up the layout. It can be anything from irrelevant stats and regulations to outdated visuals that don’t look appealing anymore. Regular elearning content review helps ensure everything stays clear, relevant, and engaging for your learners.
If you need to share additional resources or references to original data sources, use hyperlinks instead of creating a section for each resource you refer to. Learners should have easy access to the information, without having to scroll back and forth across your coursework all the time.
Update your online courses with eLearning software
Working on updates for your online courses may seem time-consuming and a bit complicated, but fortunately, there are special tools that can ease the job for you. You’ve probably heard about or even tried some of them like TalentLMS, Moodle, and Thinkific. No surprise here – these learning management systems have received tons of promotion lately.
But note that there is actually a much wider choice of eLearning solutions on the market. They don’t lag behind heavily promoted platforms neither in functionality nor in pricing policy. If you’re looking for software with sophisticated eLearning functionalities and flexible pricing, here are decent choices to try:
- GoSkills LMS
- ARMember
- Ruzuku
- Opigno LMS
- Uteach
- WP Courseware WordPress LMS
GoSkills LMS
GoSkills LMS, in particular, has a standout tool built into its course builder designed to streamline course content updates. Genie, the AI content authoring assistant, allows you to quickly create, edit, and refresh course materials with guided prompts, ensuring that your lessons are always relevant and up to date. Whether you need to tweak a single module or completely revamp a series of lessons, Genie simplifies the entire process by reducing the time and complexity involved.
With GoSkills, educators and course creators can maintain the integrity of their content while ensuring it stays aligned with current trends and learner needs. This level of efficiency allows instructors to focus more on delivering engaging learning experiences rather than being bogged down by tedious administrative tasks.
ARMember for New Age E-learning Setup
As we discussed earlier, the landscape of e-learning is ever evolving. Thus, you must opt for a model that scales up with you. Creating a membership site with a powerful tool like ARMember is the most feasible solution. You can divide your courses among various membership levels and provide exclusive paid content. What’s more? Well, you can restrict access to your content, schedule your content, share user private content, add achievements and badges, and host member-only workshops. These features work the best to modernize your e-learning efforts.
There’s one more bonus of Online Courses features! Herein, you can add videos, audios, and images to create an online course. Create quizzes and allow going to the next chapter only after completion of the current one. Thus, with ARMember, you get an in-built LMS system along with multiple membership levels.
Ruzuku
If the idea to simplify complex eLearning technologies appeals to you, Ruzuku is a go-to platform. It provides a single, well-organized environment where you can build and sell interactive courses with PDFs, audios, and videos. No need to bother with backend setups or pay extra for third-party video hosting – everything is stored directly on the platform and ready to use.
Besides easy course management, you can engage with students through rich discussions and private chats, building your own community and helping them improve results from each experience. Students can create social profiles with their bios and pics, attach multimedia files to their responses, and track their learning progress. Ruzuku’s Course Health feature makes it easy to analyze their activities by course or by lesson. In the pro version, you can also award your community with automatically generated certificates upon course completion.
Opigno LMS
Opigno LMS is a versatile, Drupal-based learning management system built for social learning. Its adaptive learning paths, blended learning capabilities, built-in authoring tool, and integrated social network with user-led communities empower organizations to create engaging and complex training programs while fostering a collaborative learning ecosystem.
Opigno also offers cloud hosting, dedicated support plans, and extensive development services, making it an ideal solution for enterprises with complex training requirements.
Uteach
Uteach is a feature-rich eLearning platform where you can sell video courses, live courses, digital & physical products, and coaching. Whether you need to upload pre-recorded videos or embed YouTube links or iframes, it’s all possible, along with attaching various multimedia files to diversify your courses. Due to a scheduling option, new content can come out in parts within pre-defined time intervals, providing a consistent learning experience.
With Uteach, you have the flexibility to present your offer in bundles, offer membership, and use marketing tools to help you boost sales. You can also create free and paid communities to nurture your students along the way. The platform supports local payment gateways and integrates well with popular CRM, Marketing, and Automation tools.
WP Courseware WordPress LMS
Creating and updating an online course has never been easier, thanks to WP Courseware WordPress LMS. With its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, educators can effortlessly design and refine their courses to match their vision without needing any technical expertise. Want to keep your learners engaged over time? No problem! WP Courseware’s drip content feature allows for the scheduled release of your lessons, ensuring students stay motivated and on track.
Adding interactive elements like quizzes is a breeze, making it simple to configure challenges that test your students’ knowledge in fun and effective ways. Plus, with options for gamification and custom certificates, you can create an immersive learning environment that not only educates but also rewards students for their progress. In other words, WP Courseware puts the power to craft dynamic and engaging online courses right at your fingertips, making course creation and updates a smooth and enjoyable process.
Bottom Line
Outdated content can have a negative impact on learning experiences, and therefore undermine students’ outcomes. Updating online courses according to the latest eLearning trends must be your top priority. The tips mentioned in this post will give you a kick-start in the right direction.
Keep track of the changes in your niche like new terminology or innovations and integrate them into online courses. Make sure your content updates meet different students’ preferences and needs. With flexible learning paths, you’ll stimulate their engagement and improve final outcomes. Use personalized assessments that would adjust to various difficulty levels. Instead of giving one exam at the end of the entire course, try to break it down into smaller tests to assess learners’ understanding of specific modules.
Besides offering pre-recorded courses only, create online communities, exclusive membership programs, and opportunities for private coaching. Not only will it all improve the efficiency of eLearning experiences but will also open up new monetization possibilities.
